Evil Roy Slade (1972)

John Astin is Evil Roy Slade. The lone survivor of an Indian attack as a child, the Indians didn’t want him. Neither did the coyotes.

So he grew up mean and hateful. And now he’s terrorizing the West, leading a gang that’s been especially troublesome for the Western Express Railroad.

But Evil Roy still finds time to rob banks. He’s doing just that when he experiences the nicest thing that’s ever happened to him, a kiss he steals from pretty Betsy Potter.

From that point on, he can’t stop thinking about Betsy. Heck, she thinks about him too, and thinks a man who kisses that good can’t be all bad.

So she spirits him off to Boston, convinced Dr. Logan Delp can change Evil Roy’s way of thinking.

Indeed, he makes progress. Evil Roy even takes a job at a shoe store owned by one of Betsy’s relatives.

Then the store owner decides to trust Evil Roy to make a large deposit.

Well, he just can’t do it, stealing the money instead and heading back West to reunite with his old gang.

Meanwhile, Nelston Stool, head of the Western Express, has finally figured out what will lure singing Marshal Bing Bell out of retirement.

He’ll offer him Betsy Potter.

John Astin as Evil Roy Slade, behind jail but keeping his sense of humor in Evil Roy Slade (1972)

Pamela Austin as Betsy Potter, the bank customer who changes Evil Roy’s life with a single kiss in Evil Roy Slade (1972)

Review:

A silly comedy Western. But one with enough clever lines and genuinely funny moments to be silly in an entertaining rather than groan-worthy way.

In other words, it’s much better than most of the Spaghetti Western comedies that were being released around the same time.

One of the funniest scenes comes as Evil Roy and Betsy are fleeing a posse. They come to the edge of a cliff, a potentially dangerous jump across a ravine.

Evil Roy promptly pulls out his six-shooter, holds it to his horse’s head and promises him a pretty filly if he make the jump, promises to turn him into glue if he doesn’t.

John Astin, the star of this show, is best known as the father of “The Addams Family,” which ran from 1964 through 1966.

This marked the only Western for thrice-married Pamela Austin, though she played one of the lead female roles in 1964’s “Kissin’ Cousins,” starring Elvis Presley and had appeared in episodes of “The Wild Wild West,” “The Virginian” and “Wagon Train.”

Mickey Rooney as Nelson Stool, the bank executive determined to bring Evil Roy to justice in Evil Roy Slade (1972)

Dick Shawn as flamboyant singing cowboy Marshal Bing Bell, meeting Betsy in Evil Roy Slade (1972)

Directed by:
Jerry Paris

Cast:
John Astin … Evil Roy Slade
Mickey Rooney … Nelson Stool
Dick Shawn … Marshal Bing Bell
Henry Gibson … Clifford Stool
Dom DeLuise … Logan Delp
Edie Adams … Flossie
Pamela Austin … Betsy Potter
Milton Berle … Harry Fern
Arthur Batanides … Lee
Larry Hankin … Snake
Robert Liberman … Preacher
Ed Cambridge … Smith
Connie Sawyer … Aggie Potter
Alice Nunn … Claire Beckendorf
Pat Morita … Turhan
Luana Anders … Alice Fern
Billy Sands … Randolph Sweet

Runtime: 97 min.

Don DeLuise as Logan Delp, the specialist trying to change Evil Roy’s way of thinking in Evil Roy Slade (1972)

Milton Berle as Harry Fern, the shoe store owner who gives Evil Roy a job in Evil Roy Slade (1972)

Memorable lines:

Nelson Stool, bragging about how hard he worked to build his railroad: “You see this hand. You see that stubby index finger. Do you know how I got it? Do ya? I wore it down, typing out messages on my telegraph key — how to build Western Express and new frontiers.
Clifford Stool: “Men often sit around campfires and sing about your stubby index finger, unc.”

Evil Roy Slade, encountering Betsy Potter during a bank robbery: “I like ruby red lips too.” He kisses Betsy, then quickly pulls back. “You’re ruby red lips taste like prairie dust.”
Gang member Sanke, tapping him on the shoulder: “You still got your bandana on, boss.”

Evil Roy Slade to Betsy: “You know, I like you. You’ve got a good head on your shoulders. And a good body under your shoulders.”

Betsy Potter: “I was expecting to feel mean hatred from your lips, but when you kissed me, it was the nicest thing that ever happened to me.”
Evil Roy Slade: “Maybe I’m just a rotten person with nice lips.”

Henry Gibson as Clifford Stool, the nephew who proves not very helpful in bringing outlaws to justice in Evil Roy Slade (1972)

Larry Hankin as Snake, one of Evil Roy’s closest friends in his outlaw gang in Evil Roy Slade (1972)

Evil Roy Slade, after his capture: “I learned two important lessons today. Never trust a pretty girl or a lonely midget.”

Evil Roy Slade, about to go bad again: “My idea of a nine-to-five job is nine men robbing five men!”

Marshal Bing Bell: “The best way to a man’s neck is through his girlfriend’s heart.”

Marshal Bing Bell: “I like to sing as I’m loafing along. It keeps my mind off the smell of the horse.”

Evil Roy Slade to Marshal Bing Bell: “Drop that guitar, pretty tonsils.”

Pamela Austin as Betsy Potter, donning a disguise for try to help the man she’s fallen for in Evil Roy Slade (1972)

John Astin as Evil Roy Slade, showing up as a surprise guest at a church ceremony in Evil Roy Slade (1972)